Heathrow saw passenger numbers dip in August, normally the peak month of the summer getaway, with 7.87 million people passing through its four terminals, down 2.1% on the same month last year, the airport confirmed on Friday.
The fall came despite a record busiest-ever day on 2 August, when nearly 272,000 passengers moved through the airport. Across the full summer period of June to August, Heathrow handled 23 million passengers in total.
Heathrow's own traffic data, published in a regulatory business and traffic update, shows UK-originating passenger numbers fell 1.7%, the steepest drop across any of its markets, while passengers travelling to and from the European Union were down a more modest 0.3%. The sharpest decline was from the Middle East, where passenger numbers plunged by a fifth as the continuing Iran war disrupts travel to and from the region.
The airport said it had been overtaken by Istanbul as Europe's busiest airport in July, a milestone it did not repeat in its latest release, instead emphasising punctuality. Heathrow said 98% of passengers waited less than five minutes at security and 98% saw their bags depart as planned, allowing it to retain the title of Europe's most punctual hub "despite some big challenges across aviation this season."
Those challenges included the UK-wide National Air Traffic Services (NATS) technical fault earlier this week, which triggered more than 2,000 flight cancellations nationally between Tuesday and Thursday and hit Heathrow harder than almost any other airport, with British Airways alone cancelling hundreds of flights. The August figures released on Friday do not yet capture the financial or passenger impact of that outage, which fell in September.
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye used the update to renew pressure on the government over the airport's proposed third runway, which was given government go-ahead earlier this year. "The longest queue at Heathrow is now the one made up of over 40 airlines that want to better connect the UK but can't secure a slot because our runways are full," Woldbye said, adding that expansion would be a "national project that will create jobs, unlock growth and make travel more affordable."
A public consultation on the government's Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement closed on 1 September, and the airport says it expects to give evidence in the coming weeks as the planning process continues.
For travellers, the immediate picture at Heathrow remains one of high punctuality despite lower passenger volumes, though this week's NATS-driven disruption is a reminder that schedule shocks can still hit with little warning. If you are travelling through Heathrow in the coming weeks, build in extra time for your journey to the airport and check your flight status directly with your airline before you set off. For help planning the trip itself, see our guides to getting to Heathrow by taxi (/taxis/), public transport (/public-transport/) and parking options (/parking/).